7-Eleven Franchisee Group Urges Fed to Move Swipe Fee Reform Forward

TUCSON, Ariz. -- The National Coalition of Associations of 7-Eleven Franchisees -- one of the largest retail trade associations in the U.S. -- is urging its members, vendors and customers to reach out to Congress to support the Federal Reserve’s new swipe fee rules and move debit card reform forward.

The coalition is directing individuals to visit the Web site, www.unfaircreditcardfees.com, without delay as the proposed Fed rule is expected to be finalized by April 22, and will go into effect July 21. This Web site has been set up to provide individuals with the advocacy tools necessary for communicating their support of the Fed’s current rulemaking process -- a process that major credit card companies are fighting to arbitrarily delay, according to the group.

"The punitive practices of the credit card companies must be stopped," Bruce Maples, national chairman of the National Coalition, said in a statement released today. Swipe fees cost merchants $12 billion a year, or $33 million per day, which our franchisees have no other choice than to pass on to their customers. We strongly support the successful Congressional effort to provide relief from these exorbitant fees, and would like to see the Fed responsibly implement the spirit of the new law without further delay."

The National Coalition will be sending franchise owners to Washington, D.C. over the next 10 weeks to visit their members of Congress and encourage them to support the Fed’s swipe fee rulemaking process. They will join numerous other retail organizations on Capitol Hill, including members of the broad-based Merchants Payments Coalition, in this important effort.

The National Coalition of Associations of 7-Eleven Franchisees is the national trade group for 7-Eleven storeowners in the U.S., representing the interests of 4,900 franchise-owned stores and their membership organizations, which employ nearly 40,000 workers.